Granada
House was built by Ralph Tubbs (whose modernist credentials include the
centrepiece for the 1951 Festival of Britain) for Sidney Bernstein, Granada’s
chairman, for his new venture: Granada Television.

No expense was spared on
the commission of this landmark office and studio complex, the UK’s first ever
purpose built television studios, predating BBC’s television centre by four
years, and just about surviving it, as the old Beeb HQ is being demolished as we
write....

Nowadays, with the ITV takeover and rebrand, Granadaland the concept and
company has long gone, but
its magnificent bricks and mortar survive, as does its place in our hearts. But recently even this hangs in the balance, beginning with
the removal of the giant red neon signage in 2011, and rumours circulating about the future of the site once ITV have left and sold up. Despite its unique architectural and
cultural significance the complex remains unlisted and unprotected against the
vagaries of the property market...